Articles tagged as Toronto

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Yoga enthusiasts all over Toronto untangled their arms and legs this April to check out InSpirit, a nine-day yoga festival with a difference billed as “The Eternal Spiritual Experience.” Events held at various venues around the city, including the University of Toronto, were designed to help people discover the ancient teachings of the East and their practical application to everyday life.

TORONTO, ON - After almost 40 years of Ratha-Yatras in North America, a distinct challenge has arisen with respect to how to promote these festivals in new and creative ways.
For many devotees, Ratha-Yatra is equated with radiant colours, resounding vibrance, exciting exhibits and entertainment showcasing the beautiful Vaishnava culture. But from a marketing perspective, argue some devotees, perhaps our messaging has become a bit repetitive.

When ISKCON’s Governing Body Comissioner for Canada, Bhakti Marg Swami, invited Vaisesika Dasa to help revive the culture of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books at the Society’s Toronto temple, he knew it would have an impact on the community.

With Ratha Yatra season in full swing and ISKCON devotees all over the world celebrating the ancient Chariot festival in honor of Jagannath, this month will see one of the largest events in North America—Toronto Ratha Yatra.

Three enthusiastic devotees from the city of Orillia (a small tourist town along a lake about 250 kilometers north of Toronto) contacted the Toronto Sankirtan Team to organize another ‘sankirtan’ outing at one of Orillia’s famous summer festivals.

So, whatever happened to the Hare Krishna movement? Back in the 1970s, robed members of the sect were frequently seen on street corners, chanting the “Hare Krishna” mantra, with their hair shorn. Krishna devotees haven’t gone into hiding, but they have toned down the missionary zeal from those crazy days of counterculture movements.

This weekend the Hare Krishna Centre is participating In Doors Open Toronto. Annually, 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public for a city-wide celebration.

This summer’s biggest blockbuster is not a movie—it’s Ratha Yatra, The Festival of Chariots. And what does that mean? It means Lord Jagannath, the most merciful Lord of the Universe, is coming to a town near you very soon!

The predominantly second-generation team behind the Toronto Ratha-Yatra festival is ambitious and creative in its promotion, and unswervingly dedicated to reaching beyond the devotee world into the mainstream.

This year, the 5th Annual Gopinath's Kids Camp will be held on Saturday, August 20th from 8:30am-6:00pm, strictly for kids aged 5-12 years. The purpose of this one-day camp is to provide an opportunity to ignite the spiritual spark in children while doing fun and interactive activities that they enjoy.

The arrival of the Toronto International Film Festival neatly heralds the end of the summer festival season in the city and Canada as a whole. However glamorous the parade of celebrities on the red carpet may seem, nothing quite compares to the peculiar sight of the Ratha Yatra in Toronto and across the country.

Toronto's Hare Krishna community recently celebrated the annual Maha-Mantra Festival. The festival involved a wide assortment of activities and events that proved to be wonderfully spiritually inspiring. This video contains some of the highlights.

Many women in the Hare Krishna community, if not all, undoubtedly have incredible amounts of responsibilities and duties to manage in every day life. Whether it's being a wife, a mother, a university student, an employee or a even head of a company, being able to manage personal lives with spiritual endeavours can be a difficult task to manage.

Back then they had heard Lord Jagannatha was sick, and that they were supposed to bring Him to the sea, where the fresh air would make Him feel better. So, putting the Deity of Jagannath on a makeshift chariot, a ragtag team of young devotees led Him through the Toronto neighborhood known as “The Beaches.”

This year, celebrating its 40th anniversary, Festival of India hosted a series of public events from July 11th to 15th, with more unique features than ever. Here, ISKCON News takes a look at some of those highlights in photos.

Devotees from ISKCON Toronto, who organize the Canadian city’s hugely successful annual Festival of India, took a risk and faced major challenges while participating in the Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s showcase parade on August 4th.

Nearly 12,000 people viewed and participated in a unique performance art piece by the Kirtan Collective at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche arts festival this year, when downtown Toronto was transformed into a huge art gallery, bringing contemporary art to the masses.

As the holiday season comes around, ISKCON devotees like to wrap up warm, pack their bags full of books by their Founder Acharya Srila Prabhupada, and head out on the streets to give the most valuable Christmas present of all: spiritual knowledge. One of the most enthusiastic ISKCON communities of recent years in this endeavor has been ISKCON of Toronto, Canada.

Huddled together in sub-zero temperatures with no power during an ice storm this past holiday season, devotees in Toronto, Canada discovered the joy of simplicity and Krishna conscious association. The storm struck in the midst of book distributor Vaisesika Das’s annual “Festival of the Heart,” held from December 19th to 24th at ISKCON Toronto.

Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre (ISKCON Toronto), has always been the hub of a rich, vibrant and enthusiastic community. Whether it be grand festivals, programs at local universities and yoga studios, philosophical discussions, cooking sessions, or singing and dancing on the streets, there are events taking place for everyone's interest.

Growing every year in size and popularity under a second generation team, Toronto Rathayatra has inspired younger devotees to take on more and more leadership in their community, and senior devotees to hand more and more to them. Today, the festival is put on by thirty-two younger devotees from high school kids to thirty-somethings, heading up twenty different departments.

Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre (ISKCON Toronto), has always been the hub of a rich, vibrant and enthusiastic community. Whether it be grand festivals, programs at local universities and yoga studios, philosophical discussions, cooking sessions, or singing and dancing on the streets, there are events taking place for everyone's interest. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shared a congratulatory message for the Canadian Hare Krishna communities for ISKCON's 50th Anniversary.

Christmas 2017. Toronto, Canada was colder than the North Pole, dropping to -22C for the first time in recorded history. Schools closed. People stayed home from work. Outdoor New Year’s Eve celebrations were canceled. The roads were treacherous. But none of this stopped ISKCON Toronto devotees from venturing out to deliver Srila Prabhupada’s books during the six-week Prabhupada marathon, from November 19th to December 31s

The Parliament of the World’s Religions, the largest global interfaith gathering, will be held in Toronto from November 1 – 7 in Toronto, Canada. The gathering will welcome close to 10,000 delegates from 80 countries, representing nearly 200 religious, spiritual, and Indigenous traditions.

Nearly 10,000 delegates from 80 countries attended the 2018 Parliament of the World’s Religions from November 1stto 7thin Toronto, Canada. They represented nearly 200 religious, spiritual and indigenous traditions, comprising the single largest interfaith gathering in the world.

In a holistic and visionary way, what are the deepest needs and hungersof family, of community, of society, of the world?We know when women’s voices are silenced a door opens for children and women themselves to become abused.